Frank’s behavior consumed most of the first half of the episode, and to the show’s credit, it both included examples of his behavior and the editing, at least, didn’t try to dismiss it or ignore its consequences. (The show has a long history of sanitizing bigotry and other bad behavior. For example, the show has not yet included Bronte’s statements about James, such as, “I want to kick his little Asian ass back to Hong Kong…wherever he came from.”)

The editing introduced a montage of Frank’s harassment by having him say, in the Diary Room, in yet another disingenuous-sounding soundbite, “I might be the old man of the house, but I’m a kid at heart, and I love this game and so while I’m here, I’m going to have as much fun doing it.”

On the episode, Frank said, “I like to make jokes, like to scare people, make pranks.”

The editing then cut to footage of:

Frank slamming Nicole’s face into the water repeatedly in the pool, and then spinning her around and throwing her. Nicole later said, “Sometimes his jokes go a little to far.”

the bathroom, where a group was gathered, Frank saying, “Can you wax Nicole’s mustache?” and then slapping Nicole very hard on the leg.

Frank saying to Natalie, “Natalie needs to be on that slop diet,” and then poking her in the side while saying, “fatty-boom-ba-blaty.”

Frank telling Zakiyah, “Pull your shirt down up over your bra, girl,” and when she said “no,” he called her a “hussy.”

Frank saying to a group in the bathroom, “Ya’ll go on and have some fun today, push Zakiyah over as much as possible.” Someone said, “He’s a douche,” and Frank said, “Don’t ever call me a douche. I’m not a douche.” Da’Vonne then said, “Frank’s a douche,” Frank replied, “Well Da’s a slut.” She laughed awkwardly and said, “Only on Tuesdays.” Frank said, “Got the panties dropping down on Tuesday.”

Da’Vonne went into a bedroom, crying, upset with his unwanted physical contact and his verbal harassment. As others comforted her, Frank walked in and said immediately, “Whoa, what’s up girl—I didn’t. I’m sorry, Da.”

Da’Vonne went to the Diary Room and told the producers, “Can I just sit in here please?” She then said, “I don’t want my daughter to see that and think it’s okay for guys to hit girls on the butt and guys to call girls sluts, or guys to tell women to shut their damn mouth. I’m raising a daughter.”

In a clip shown later, she told the Diary Room camera, “I don’t care how much I make you feel like we’re good friends, I ain’t never told you you got permission to slap me on my ass. Them words have never come out of my mouth and I have never given the impression that was okay.” She added, “I am trying to play this game, but I don’t know how to handle it in a way where I don’t jeopardize my game in the house.”

In a conversation about Frank, Zakiyah called him a “creep” and Tiffany said, “He’s not worth you risking your game for.” Both said that they would all just have to wait for him to be voted out in two weeks.

When some of the other cast members encouraged Da’Vonne to not react to Frank’s harassment, she said, “I’m trying, but I don’t want to be Da’Vonne from last year, so I’m just trying to shut up.” She added, “Damn, I feel like a punk. This man just say whatever he wants to say to me.”

Big Brother producers fail to respond

Meanwhile, Frank tried to dismiss this. “I just kinda popped her butt. It’s not the first time. Usually she laughs. It’s something I do with my mom and my nana,” he told James. “If it’s something I do to you, it’s usually because I feel really close to you, and also I was really excited.”

Later, he talked to her, and in a rambling apology—he did say “I apologize”—he also kept pushing responsibility onto Da’Vonne:

“I apologize. I don’t mean anything by it. I didn’t mean to offend you or anything. I do that, it’s usually because I look at you—because I’m really close to you. I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I won’t cross that line if it makes you uncomfortable. You know what I’m saying? If I don’t understand you don’t want that done like that and people seeing that, so I just want to know I obviously apologize and don’t mean anything bad by it. I think you know my intentions were all good. I’m just sorry. That’s the last thing I want to do is offend someone I feel close to.”

Even if his apology and rationale are entirely genuine, what’s clear is that his behavior has created an atmosphere where Da’Vonne has to pretend like his unwanted advances and verbal taunting does not bother her.

“Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.”

It has definitely created the later, if playing Big Brother is a “work environment,” and has affected her “work performance,” if playing Big Brother is considered work.

Just read Da’Vonne’s words, spoken in the Diary Room:

“I have to go along with his apology because he’s running this HOH this week, so I have to make sure that I’m on his good side. For my game, I just smiled and told him I appreciated him coming to me, but I’m still going to get his ass next week.”

What was entirely absent from the episode was any consequence at all for Frank’s behavior, beyond several players indicating that they want to vote him out next week. He went on to win the challenge and get even more power in the game.

The houseguests, including Da’Vonne, worked hard to not let this affect their game play, but there was nothing shown on television that suggested the producers condemned or prohibited his behavior in any way.

But then, Big Brother’s producers and CBS have previously tolerated harassment in the house. Why would anything change now?

Firefighter Keith Young died from 9/11-related cancer before he could pitch Cup Board Pro on Shark Tank. Immediately after his kids Kaley, Keira, and Christian got an investment from all five sharks, it sold out.

behind the scenes of reality TV

Oh hell yes: Sharknado is back on Syfy tonight, and the third installment brings with it more ridiculous mayhem and another slew of reality TV cameos. Shark Tank‘s Mark Cuban as the actual president, and, of course, the ever-serious Ian “EYE-an” Ziering from Celebrity Apprentice is the franchise’s star, Fin Shepard. The third installment brings… continue reading

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about Andy Dehnart

Andy Dehnart’s writing and criticism about television, culture, and media has appeared on NPR and in Vulture, Pacific Standard, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications. He has covered reality television for more than 18 years, and created reality blurred in 2000.

A member of the Television Critics Association, Andy, 41, also directs the journalism program at Stetson University in Florida, where he teaches creative nonfiction and journalism. He has an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing and literature from Bennington College. More about reality blurred and Andy.

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reality blurred is your guide to the world of reality TV and unscripted entertainment, with reality show reviews, news, and analysis. It was created in 2000 by Andy Dehnart. He's still writing and publishing it today.

reality blurred is regularly updated with highlights from the world of reality TV: news and analysis; behind-the-scenes reports; interviews with reality TV show cast members and producers; and recaps and reviews of these reality TV shows, including Survivor, Big Brother, The Great British Baking Show, Shark Tank, The Amazing Race, The Bachelor, Project Runway, Dancing with the Stars, Top Chef, and many more.